1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to a secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in order to fabricate a high-capacity battery, as many electrode plates as possible should be wound and placed in a can having a given volume. In addition, in order to increase an amount of active material coated on the electrode plates, the volume of the can occupied by a current collector should be reduced. However, because current collecting efficiency should be maintained to fabricate a high-power battery, an electrode tab is welded to an electrode assembly whenever each of the turns of the winding is accomplished to fabricate the high-power battery. The fully-fabricated electrode assembly is referred to as a multi-tab electrode assembly.
In the conventional process for attaching an electrode tab of an electrode assembly to a case, an auxiliary tab is welded to the electrode tab and the auxiliary tab is then welded to a cap plate or a bottom plate of the case. Here, the auxiliary tab has a primary bending structure formed at a portion welded to the electrode tab and has a secondary bending structure formed by assembling the cap plate or the bottom plate into the case.
The aforementioned process, however, may undesirably increase processing costs due to additional equipment for attaching and bending processes. In addition, when stress, such as vibrations or electrical or mechanical shocks, is applied to the bent portion of the auxiliary tab for an extended period of time, the bent portion of the auxiliary tab may be cut due to the stress.